THIS TRIAL CHAMBER of the International Tribunal for the Prosecution
of Persons Responsible for Serious Violations of International Humanitarian Law
Committed in the Territory of the former Yugoslavia since 1991 ("Tribunal");
BEING SEISED of an ex parte and confidential "Prosecution Motion
for Protective Measures and Delayed Disclosure" with Annex A, filed on 29
September 2006 ("Motion" and "Annex A"), seeking various protective
measures for a witness identified in Annex A; NOTING WITH CONCERN
that the Prosecution has chosen to file the entire Motion in a confidential and
ex parte manner without providing any information that would allow the
Trial Chamber to asses whether good cause exists for doing so and as a result,
both the public and the Defence heretofore had no knowledge of the Motion;
NOTINGthat Paragraph 2 of Article 21 of the Statute provides that the accused
is "entitled to a fair and public hearing, subject to Article 22 of the Statute;"
CONSIDERING that "it is in the interests of justice that any application
be filed publicly but, if necessary and on good cause being demonstrated, it may
be filed with confidential and/or ex parte annexes"; CONSIDERING
the Trial Chamberís view that the mere fact that the Prosecution is seeking
delayed disclosure need not to be hidden from the public, and much less from the
Defence; CONSIDERING THEREFORE that the Prosecution should re-file
the motion publicly, with any sensitive information in a confidential annex and
that due to the fact that some of the information of the witness may, at this
point, warrant delayed disclosure to the Defence, the Prosecution may also make
any such annex ex parte and should explain in its reapplication the reasons
why the information must be maintained on a confidential and ex parte basis
at the present time; PURSUANT TO Rule 54 of the Rules of Procedure
and Evidence of the Tribunal, HEREBY DISMISSES THE MOTION WITHOUT
PREJUDICE. Done in English and French, the
English text being authoritative.